How to add a Windows Form containing a MapControl to a WPF application

Creating the WPF application

1. Start Visual Studio.
2. Create a WPF application project and name it WinFormsInWPF.
3. Add the following references to the WinFormsInWPF project:
• ESRI.ArcGIS.Version—Contains runtime manager functionality to bind a specific ArcGIS installation on your machine
• ESRI.ArcGIS.ADF.Local

Adding a button to the WPF window

1. Double-click MainWindow.xaml in the Solution Explorer to open the designer.
2. From the toolbox in the Controls section, drag-and-drop a Button element onto the window and resize it as shown in the following illustration:
   

          

Modifying XAML attriutes

<Window
  x:Class="WinFormsInWPF.MainWindow"
  xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
  xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
  Title="MainWindow"
  mc:Ignorable="d"
  xmlns:d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/blend/2008"
  xmlns:mc="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006"
  Height="245"
  Width="319">
  <Grid Height="183" Width="262">
    <Button
      Content="Button"
      Height="33"
      HorizontalAlignment="Left"
      Margin="37,74,0,0"
      Name="button1"
      VerticalAlignment="Top"
      Width="180"
      Click="button1_Click"/>
  </Grid>
</Window>

<Window
  x:Class="MainWindow"
  xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
  xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
  Title="MainWindow"
  mc:Ignorable="d"
  xmlns:d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/blend/2008"
  xmlns:mc="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006"
  Height="245"
  Width="319">
  <Grid Height="183" Width="262">
    <Button
      Content="Button"
      Height="33"
      HorizontalAlignment="Left"
      Margin="37,74,0,0"
      Name="button1"
      VerticalAlignment="Top"
      Width="180"
      Click="button1_Click"/>
  </Grid>
</Window>

Adding a Windows Forms template

1. Right-click the project, select Add, and click New Item. The Add New Item dialog box opens.
2. On the left panel, select Windows Forms categories, then select Windows Forms template on the right panel.
3. Click Add.

• System.Windows.Forms.dll
• System.Drawing.dll

Binding to a specific ArcGIS product

1. Click to expand the App.xaml (C#) or Application.xaml (VB .NET) node in the Solution Explorer.
2. Double-click App.xaml.cs or Application.xaml.vb to open the code behind file for the application.
3. Replace the file's content with the following code example to bind ArcGIS Engine when the application starts:

using System.Windows;
namespace WinFormsInWPF
{
    public partial class App: Application
    {
        protected override void OnStartup(StartupEventArgs e)
        {
            base.OnStartup(e);
            ESRI.ArcGIS.RuntimeManager.Bind(ESRI.ArcGIS.ProductCode.Engine);
        }
    }
}

Class Application
    
    Protected Overrides Sub OnStartup(ByVal e As System.Windows.StartupEventArgs)
    MyBase.OnStartup(e)
    
    ESRI.ArcGIS.RuntimeManager.Bind(ESRI.ArcGIS.ProductCode.Engine)
End Sub

End Class

Using updated styles for Windows Forms controls

System.Windows.Forms.Application.EnableVisualStyles();

System.Windows.Forms.Application.EnableVisualStyles()

Adding ArcGIS Engine controls and initializing the ArcGIS Engine license

1. From the toolbox, drag and drop AxMapControl and AxLicenseControl onto the form in the same way you do in a Windows Forms project.
   
   Alternatively, if the ArcGIS Engine controls are not available in the toolbox, right-click the toolbox, and select Choose Items from the menu. The Choose Toolbox Items dialog box opens. On the .NET Framework Components tab, select AxMapControl and AxLicenseControl.
2. Right-click AxLicenseControl, select Properties, and check the ArcGIS Engine option.

Loading the map

Showing the form

private void button1_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
    Form1 frm = new Form1();
    frm.Show();
}

Private Sub Button1_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.Windows.RoutedEventArgs)
    Dim frm As Form1 = New Form1()
    frm.Show()
End Sub

Showing a modeless form

WindowsFormsHost.EnableWindowsFormsInterop();

WindowsFormsHost.EnableWindowsFormsInterop()

Releasing COM objects

private void Form1_FormClosing(object sender, FormClosingEventArgs e)
{
    ESRI.ArcGIS.ADF.COMSupport.AOUninitialize.Shutdown();
}

Private Sub Form1_FormClosing(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.Windows.Forms.FormClosingEventArgs) Handles MyBase.FormClosing
    ESRI.ArcGIS.ADF.COMSupport.AOUninitialize.Shutdown()
End Sub

Running the project

1. Save the project.
2. Press F5 to run the application.
3. Click the Show Windows Forms button. See the following screen shot:
   
   

        The map displays as shown in the following screen shot:

       

See Also: